Collapse of Colombian Bridge Kills Nine Workers, Injures Five

View of a bridge under construction that collapsed leaving dead and injured workers in Chirajara near Bogota, Colombia January 15, 2018. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga

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BOGOTA (Reuters)

At least nine construction workers were killed and five injured when a partially-constructed bridge collapsed in central Colombia on Monday, an official from the disaster response agency said

Thebridge, located in Chirajara on the border of Cundinamarca and Meta provinces, was to be part of the highway that connects the capital Bogota and the city of Villavicencio, and was not yet in public use.

View of a bridge under construction that collapsed leaving dead and injured workers in Chirajara near Bogota, Colombia January 15, 2018. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga

The cause of the collapse, which sent pieces of the bridge down into a canyon below, is under investigation, Reinaldo Romero, head of disaster response for Meta province, told Reuters.

“Up to now there are nine dead and five injured,” Romero said. “We are doing a check to rule out other victims.”

Transportation Minister German Cardona flew over the site of the collapse later on Monday and visited rescue staff on the ground with Dimitri Zaninovich, the head of the national infrastructure agency.

(Reporting by Bogota newsroom; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

View of a bridge under construction that collapsed leaving dead and injured workers in Chirajara near Bogota, Colombia January 15, 2018. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga

View of a bridge under construction that collapsed leaving dead and injured workers in Chirajara near Bogota, Colombia January 15, 2018. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga